Beauty in the Beast
by Lays
Summary: MGS4 spoilers warning Solid Snake is ambushed by a Beast from BB corps. In order to survive he has to kill the Beast and the Beauty within.
1. Chapter 1

_Dear reader,_

**Thanks for clicking!** Be prepared for awfulness, like usual.

**Warning!**

**- Alert Phase: For people who absolutely HATE SPOILERS.**

**- Caution Phase: Otacon: "Snake, watch out! This fanfic contains numerous spoilers for MGS4 and maybe even more. Chapter 1 is full of spoilers. If you do not want the plot of MGS4 to be spoiled, don't read them. Wait Snake, more people are tapping our conversation. Whoever you are, click away from this story while you still have the choice!"**

**- Evasion Phase: (Some things are better left unseen than seen. You click away/close browser/whatever you do, and the spoilers are left unspoilt.) **

The story captures a hidden B&B fight, at an unknown time. The setting is South America (location of Act 2 in MGS4). Old Snake had fought B&B corps before, and this confrontation is not an utter surprise for him. However the appearance of the legendary Old Snake is more surprising for the Beauty. Old Snake, most wanted man on the PMC hit list, literally fell into her trap.

I haven't played many games, so the background info is far from accurate. Let's just assume that nothing is true at all.

**Otacon: "Oh! Sunny just decoded a hidden message from an unknown source. Well it reads: **

'**I hope you enjoy it! ^_^. Disclaimer: I own nothing of Konami & Nintendo, except this fic. BUT, I do not own every line. To mark which lines I have stolen, they are typed cursive, under the caption [flashback]. They're straight from MGS4 and not the whole dialogue is included, only parts.' **

**Otacon: **_**"**_**Hmm odd, that's all there is. Now on to the fanfic I guess."

* * *

**

**- Beauty in the Beast -  
**

**---**

**Chapter 1:**

**---**

[Flashback]

"_Word on the street says that beneath those ugly-ass suits, the B&Bs are real babes... Drop-dead gorgeous."_

"_...It damaged their minds pretty much beyond repair... So the only way they could cope with the reality of battle was to become war machines themselves. The remnants of their human side are buried deep within. The beast... That's what you see on the outside. War transforms us, Snake... Into beasts."_

"_War transforms us..."_

"_But deep within that shell, something human survives. A fragile, scarred heart. Without a shell to protect it, it's like the yolk of an egg..."_

---

Drebin's voice was heard again. And also his own hoarse voice, but that was rare as he never spoke much. Sometimes, old memories just flashed back into his mind. Familiar pictures and voices reappeared, like watching a movie showing a series of flashbacks from his troubled life. He told himself that he never cared much about his actions. Men worry from their actions and yet they make the same mistakes over again. Men could worry, they have feelings in the first place. But he was different, he never had feelings, he never cared. He wasn't a real man after all, just a machine, killing machine, created by men. He only resembled a man, being a clone. He could never explain why he remembered the useless things, it wasn't that he treasured memories. Perhaps he resembled a human much more than he ever expected, apart the fact that he was made from just flesh and blood, and that he would die sometime soon. Heh, just dying like all humans, fitting much better in the picture of Mother Nature.

_---_

Same place.. only in a different time.

Same situation.. only in a different time.

Same Snake.. only in a different time.

Same David.. only in a different time?

---

If it wasn't the Muscle Suit he wore, his old aging body would already crumble into fine dust. His suit was practically the only thing that held him together, giving him some structure. Some structure in the form of exoskeleton for a body which is at the brink of dying. According to his last body check, the doctor concluded that his bones were breaking down, his tissues were wilting like an untended rose. In a logarithmic factor, the acceleration went on. Day after day, a fallen petal or leaf would descend the ground. Day after day, the stem would crook over, until it eventually reaches the ground. Same ground, where battles were fought, and where all fallen corpses would be left to rot. Until they are brought back to earth, back to nothing.

Old Snake grunted, pretty crazy actually, that wasn't exactly what the doctor said. He was comparing himself with a rose. He would never come up with the metaphor if he hadn't been mocked by the thousands of roses he had seen. Everyone just felt the necessity of putting roses in vases, putting roses for the dead at graves, there was even this pretty counsellor called Rose, but his greatest memory of a rose was when his best friend called him that way. He compared him to a beast, like a blue rose, man made. It touched the cold emotionless Snake, not in a way that he would cry and turn damn sentimental suddenly. It was a good memory of Otacon, saying it comforted the mind of the 'old' man. Why it felt good, he never knew. Philosophising was just a waste of time, it just happened that he had a loyal friend. A good faithful man who has been an ear and comfort during harsh times. Sometimes a bit too gullible, nevertheless the best friend one could ask. Still, the simile with a delicate rose was freaking out of picture. He scoffed, but in his state it sounded more like coughing. If he must be a part of a rose, he would probably be the thorns. Ugly spikes, only good for hurting others.

Forget the craziness about roses. Yeah, he was dying. Like hell a doctor had to tell him, any blind or sane man could see that Snake was running on his last days of life. It was a matter of countdown. He never celebrated his birthday, it was not even worth to celebrate. His birth was never acknowledged as the birth of a human being.

The ex-mercenary pondered, he met his mother, even his father, a few months back. He stood by, right at the moment of their deaths. Did their reunions make any differences? He learned that he was born from a mother's womb, like any human child. His father - toughest man, brave war hero, the legendary Big Boss - Solid Snake witnessed the old man crying. While he himself, he was just incapable to let down one droplet of tear. Even today, he had trouble of acknowledging them as his true parents. Old Snake did hope, that someday the most basic simple elementary words: 'mom' and 'dad', could leave his lips effortlessly. Maybe that day will never arrive, heh, fool's dream, what right does _he_ have to call someone a parent? Not even at their graves, he would have the damn right.

There was another reason why he hated birthday celebrations. The number of candles never corresponded to his physical appearance. His body had always been undergoing accelerated aging, which caused him looking much older than his real biological age. His outer tissues were completely covered by wrinkles. Urban legends often say that wrinkling features reflected the identity which the person used to be. Rigid wrinkles are fruits nurtured by the suffering from sorrow and anger, all human emotions. How in goddamn sake could he have wrinkles, when a beast like him had no emotions? His eye socks hung tiredly under his eyes. Eyes which had never seen happiness in the world before. Even when it was all over, even when the moment of peace dawned. He never understood the peace he had been fighting for all the time, and particularly, he never experienced peace in his crumbling life.

Ticking biological weapon, that was what Naomi would call him, back then. This time, his name was clean from the 'biological weapon' part, they said. Neither was he carrying an epidemic in his cells, nor was it nestling inside his veins. The mutated virus was wiped away from the current world. Nothing to fear, huh? No, maybe the virus is gone but there is something that could never be prevented. Time cannot be turned back, he could never be young again. Then the most supreme law in nature appears: the inevitable death. Every life that is once given, must be taken away again. In his own eyes, Old Snake still saw himself as the ticking biological weapon. Time was ticking, no denial. Plus he was born as a man-made weapon, thus leaving one option, die as a man-made weapon.

Therefore knowing that death was not far away, he decided to enjoy life. He went on a voyage searching for his own peace, with the last breath he had spared in his frail corpus. Easier said than done. Perhaps it's far more difficult to be optimistic, when you know that the next moment, you're just be lying dead, just flat on some random ground.

---

Solid Snake - now not wanting anyone to call him Old Snake - stood proudly on a tall hill. He watched the calm scenery stretching below him. It was the same place as that time: South America. There was a difference however; it was freed from any soldiers. The serene green from grass and growing seedlings comforted his old eyes. He was never much a nature fanatic but for the first time he felt less disturbed. The gentle wind breeze stroked his white hair softly. It was an average day in spring, not too cold or hot.

He inhaled the fresh air deeply, and breathed it out. It felt great, fresh air. His chest did hurt, as his lungs had some trouble functioning properly as it should be with any healthy person. They were thin fragile sacks, still putrid from all the tar. Perhaps they were in a better state than few months back, despite their awful long services. Believe it or not, Snake did it this time. He quitted smoking, yeah, you're hearing it right. He ditched his beloved cigarettes, 'The Boss' ain't the boss anymore. Sorry for the bad joke, you get the idea? ('The Boss' is the name of the cigarette brand he used to smoke.) Solid Snake stopped smoking only for one reason. Just for some extra months, it was worth it.

Trekking through the nature was an idea inspired from that kid Raiden. Not a real kid anymore, Jack had grown to a real man. Looking back now, he'd seen that everyone had grown. Solid Snake wanted to die peacefully. The place was not that important, but the nature had some divine qualities. Heh, divine, what a meaningless word, in his life he never believed in anything like a god. Why even bother to mention? Nature was just something a bit different than the concrete, steel, or other man-made structures.

"Hey Snake!" a friendly voice called out from below.

The ex-mercenary looked over the lee of the hill and saw his scientist friend waving at him. Otacon adjusted his glasses and smiled at him a bit goofily.

"You see, can you help me getting on top this elevation? You must be laughing me out right now. A younger man begging for aid from the legendary.." he paused a second, probably reminding himself not to say that word 'old' out loud. "..Snake."

Snake put a half-smile, barely visible under the wrinkles, and pulled his friend up with one arm. The otaku was not familiar from outdoor trips. Hiking is totally different than watching anime on his computer 24/7.

"Oof! Hey thanks. Certainly, that was a tiring workout. Oh! But definitely worth the time. Wow! You see the beautiful fields, Snake?" the glassed brunette walked back and forth in great joy from the natural wonders. He pointed at different directions and talked non-stop excitingly like a curious child describing a fantasy world. "The trees, the blue sky, the flowers, just everything. Wait, they got these flowers too? Here in South America? Do you know what they're called? The genus is.. uh.. let's think.. Naomi would know." Suddenly he halted.

"Sssht.. quiet Snake. Oh my.. I've never seen this specie before! Where's Mk. IV!? You saw it too?" He spoke very loudly despite pretending to be calm.

"What?"

"Ah! No time to talk. The little thing went that direction. We have to record him. Uhm, which way was it again?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Well, rabbit, yellow, about this big. His tail, it was really remarkable, zigzag shape like this. A bolt! Yes, the symbol of electricity, or should I say voltage? Snake, don't tell me you missed the little guy?" Otacon waved his hands quickly making all kind of describing gestures. "We have to follow him! He must be there!"

The man ran away following some kind of unknown lead. There went Snake's plan of burying his former weapons. He had planned to burrow his trusted guns for an eternal rest in different locations he once visited. Don't ask why. The ex-soldier sighed and followed suit after his friend.

"Huh? He's gone. And I haven't even got footage of the new animal specie." Otacon sighed deeply. "Here goes _Mus rattus Emmerich, _not written in any text books anymore. By the way, when you think about it, it isn't right. _Mus_ is the genus name for mice and that was a rabbit, I think. Nevermind, no specie named after my family anymore.."

"Forget about it. You're still an important scientist, though."

"Snake!"

"What? You could frighten away the little rat when shouting like this."

"Snake, the spot where you're standing.. how to say it? Well, uhm.. it brings.. bad luck." He whispered uncomfortably.

"Huh?"

"Snake, move away from _the_ spot, do it quick, don't question why."

"I show you how to fry that rat, Otacon." Solid Snake grabbed his Solar Gun and checked the gun in an inspective manner. It had no electric energy left. Just needed some charging up with solar energy. Snake knew exactly how and smirked satisfied for getting an opportunity to get on this special pose.

"Y-.. you.. kn- know.. you are.. stan-.. standing inside a.. crop circle.." his friend told him in a frightened voice.

He ignored the chickened out Otacon and lifted up his face towards the heaven. Hiding between white clouds, the solid sun shone brightly. Great, the perfect time to charge it up. Snake jutted his arm high above his head. Like the peak of a sturdy lance, the barrel of the Solar Gun faced the crimson burning sun.

"SUN-..LIGHT!!" Solid Snake roared with maximum volume. The gun absorbed the raw illuminating rays frantically. The tiny gun trembled wildly in his grip. He felt the solar synergy growing stronger and stronger. Until disruptively the energy inflow stopped. Damn, only halfway charged, must be some kind of malfunction. He inspected the weapon, nothing unusual. Snake doubted the malfunction, this reeks of hazard. He scanned his vicinity quickly and kneeled down in a defensive stance. This made his realisation that he was completely trapped. He was imprisoned inside a dark lingering shadow. No need to be paranoid. Surely, the clouds could be giving him hell of a terrific time by covering the sun. He breathed in relief and remembered that it was obvious that it didn't work when the sunlight is blocked. Whether it was due to clouds, that was the question. The former spy turned his head up for confirmation. What the fuck!? Wordless and in disbelief he kept staring the expanding darkness. Here in South America? An eclipse!?

* * *

**Thanks for reading!** :D Reviews are welcome but please don't bash the cheesy ending. I couldn't come up with a better way of connecting it to chapter 2. Next chapters will come very soon.

On the fields in act 2, there are white flowers growing in the wild. And there's a small crop circle on the grass. Reminds me of aliens and other science fiction stuff. This is why this specific area is chosen. Next chapter totally different genre.

---

_[Random conversation between the two buddies]_

_**Snake**__: "Hey Otacon, how did you come up with that name?"_

_**Otacon**__: "You mean Mus rattus Emmerich? Well, I needed quite a time to come up with a suitable name. You see, Snake, I absolutely do not know for sure whether he was a mouse or a rat. And in such situations, you better be sure than sorry. You know, some people attacks the notions of scientists who are long deceased. It might sound silly, but what's written in history books can besmirch your reputation for eternity." Otacon adjusted his glasses on his nose bridge. (It's his habit)_

_**Snake**__: "Wait, at the beginning you said it was a rabbit."_

_**Otacon**__: "Well, uhm.. you know, that was an assumption too. And then I had this wonderful idea. Why not give it a cool name instead? The cool-factor can compromise other factors like inaccuracy or the difficulties in spelling. A while back I played this game on the Nintendo DS. It was made by Square-Enix and the name of the game is: The World Ends With You!"_

_**Snake**__: "Sounds depressing to me."_

_**Otacon**__: "Hey! It's a wonderful game, you should play it sometimes, Snake!"_

_**Snake**__: "Nah."_

_**Otacon**__: "But, in that game you have this clothing brand called 'Mus Rattus'. And to add a bit of my love dedicated to TWEWY I have to name this specie this way. So even in the future they don't forget about that DS game. In Wikipedia they would say under the 'trivial facts' section: this nomenclature is inspired by TWEWY. How cool does that sound? The third part is often the family name, that's why it is Emmerich."_

_In a distance the yellow rodent overhears the 'intellectual' conversation and rolled his eyes_. (I know it is a stupid question, but can you guess what this 'animal' is?)


	2. Chapter 2: part 1

Dear reader,

There are words which are underlined throughout the story. Nothing important, I did so, to prevent confusion of reading it as separated words. Weapons and items might work differently than in game as I can misinterpret the way they function. The location is not anyplace specific. It's vague and makes no sense. Don't ask me for more details about the map layout because that's a bit difficult to explain. Not so much action in this part, I promise for more next chapter. Attires are adapted to MGS4 story don't get surprised when different colours are mentioned.

Nevertheless I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: Same as always, barely anything. :( I only own this fanfiction.

* * *

  
**

**Beauty in the Beast**

**---  
**

**Chapter 2:**

**(Part 1)**

**---  
**

White, everything was white. Black, everything went black. And it stayed dark, no light shone anymore. He saw nothing. A voice was heard. Otacon.. The voice disappeared. No sound was heard anymore. He heard nothing. There were no words. No words could describe this. There's only darkness, nothing else. There's nothing here. There's nothing to describe. No feelings, no thoughts, no memories, just nothing. Must be death. He died. After all these years he finally died. They said that even the dead have ears.. No.. they don't.

"Snake...!"

He heard a voice, the voice. His voice came back, haunting him again like an ill-intentioned poltergeist. That hoarse voice, unmistakeably recognised even miles away, belonging to a certain man he wished not to see. There was one place where he would meet Liquid Ocelot again: hell.

"Snake...!" In a louder tone he repeated his name, impatiently urging for his response. How hard he tried he was unable to reply. Not that he wanted to reply that old bastard so badly. Shivery lips were restrained from speaking or letting one last breath. As if no body belonged to his own anymore. He lost its control, he felt nothing.

Suddenly thousands of tingling pulses pierced through his sense. Soon enough the pulses turned into shocks and then soon became painful torment. His anguish from the suffering resuscitated his senses. He screamed in dismay. Groaning from the eternal torture and begging for unanswered mercy. "Li-..q-..uid..." the cursed syllables escaped weakly from the solid lips. He could.. not.. give.. up.. Not when.. he still had a matter to settle! He shot his eyes wide open, immediately searching the source of the voice belonging to Devil himself. Liquid was nowhere to be seen. The lifeless blue orbs darted through the surroundings. He wasn't attached to any torture devices... The shocks through his body were gone instantly. Snake tried to detect the sounds around him, but there was nothing else but dead silence.

"SNAKE!"

"Ugh." He turned his head sideways to meet the sight of a jumpy object. He couldn't make up what he saw and decide to stay lying motionless on the floor for a bit longer. He pressed the scarred face tightly against the freezing coldness from the iron and gazed emotionlessly. The object was starting to move more energetic than ever. Too fast for the tired eyes to follow.

"Snake! Good grief.. What happened!? You wouldn't wake up! I was so worried! I had no other choice, I'm so sorry Snake! If Mk. IV didn't release the shocks, I don't know what can happen to your life.." That voice again. Wait, that was Otacon!

"Otacon?" Snake softly muttered despite he knew that there was no room of mistake.

"You disappeared suddenly.. I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything! I saw this thing coming from the sky and before I knew.." Mk. IV retrieved his cable, which can send electricity to paralyse the enemy, back to his torso. If this is Otacon, maybe he somehow survived. He might be still alive.

"What do you mean? Spare the apologies. When did this all happen?"

"Some ten minutes I guess.. no time to talk."

"Huh? Otacon, where am I? Can you tell me everything slowly? Instead of jumping from one point to another."

"Damn it, ah no." the screen attached to Mk. IV showed a sign of worry in the hazel eyes behind the glasses.

"Sorry Snake, I don't know where you are, somewhere up there, in the sky... Mk. IV somehow got on the big spaceship too. I think they abducted you!" The Otaku began to stress out.

"Great.." the man sarcastically said.

The legendary Snake was not enjoying any minute of this. Every time he was captured they forced him into a torture chamber. Punishing and beating the crap out of him, and as if that was not enough, they also did not remove the dead co-prisoners. They were all densely packed in one muggy tiny room, like a bunch of caged vermin. Leaving them no choice but to inhale the foul sultry air of their own urine, blood and rotting flesh. This time the 'captors' seemed to have more mercy, but you can never sure. The worst is yet to come...

* * *

Mk. IV pointed out that the captors had left his belongings right next to his body when he found him. Both the Rail Gun and Solar Gun were present. Solid Snake only took the Solar Gun and concealed his weapon inside the pocket on his belt. He inspected his surrounding carefully and made a hasty duck roll behind a random object. He found himself to be indoors, in a grand hall, completely sealed off from any daylight. The ex-soldier didn't plan to waste the energy from the Solar Gun, instead he made use of the Solid Eye. There was no sign of hostile aura according to his Solid Eye. Not even SCARABS (tiny little robots in shape of an eyeball with a few arms sticking out). His captors must be in a different location.

He toggled the Night Vision Mode to determine the terrain he was located. The rectangular space was not as large as he thought. There were about ten empty cylindrical tubes aligned closely on both the wallsides. Between the two rows is a pathway which was wide enough for GEKKOS to fit through (GEKKOS are unmanned bipedal Metal Gears with organic legs). The capsules had enough space for a mature man to fit in. Damn, the thought of being locked inside such thing, send chills to his spine. If he stared at these test tubes for any longer, his stress level would boil. Just forget about them and he tried to remain as calm as he could (psyche is important). He ignored the glasswork, however the spots between two of these tubes were suitable hiding spots.

The ceiling was pretty high, and completely covered by a network of ducts and pipelines, varying in different shape and size. When he looked up, Solid Snake also saw a bridge-like platform connecting the sidewalls near the centre of the hall. It was too high for him to reach atop the platform, however any other athletic soldier enhanced with nanomachines could jump up effortlessly.

For safety measures, Snake had equipped the 'Stealth Suit', a device that manipulates light rays, to render invisibility. Honestly, it was useless in this chamber, because it was pitch-dark. He crept carefully on the metal floor to reduce the otherwise possible noise from his own footsteps. He chose for the uncomfortable narrow space closest to the walls rather than the wider pathway. He did so to dodge watchful surveillance cameras or dangerous pitfalls that might be scattered around.

The hall was quiet and cold as a grave. Not even a damn mouse was attracted to this place. His wrinkled skin dried out from the different air pressures and humidity. The only sounds that Snake could hear were his own breathing, his Muscle Suit scraping against steel and Mk. IV following closely behind him. If he weren't there, this was no more than a hall of desolation, which no soul spoke of. It was abandoned, left in oblivion, probably not even meant for any normal human to stay. If it weren't the combination of darkness and silence that drove your mind crazy, it would be the feeling of dreadful solitude that did its job.

He longed for something to distract himself. Something like his good old cigarettes, just a nasty habit to take his mind someplace else.

"Otacon, what do you make up from this place? I would say that it is some kind of lab or any site where experiments are conducted, judged from all the test tubes I see." Snake asked his friend for the sole reason of hearing any kind of human voice.

"You can be right Snake. However won't you say that laboratories are better lit than a place like this? And have you noticed the walls?"

"What's so special about them? They're just a bit of curved, kind of like a tunnel."

"Yeah, I would say that this is a storage room or the basement of the spaceship. You know? Where the wicked scientists keep all the lab failures and mutants hidden away from your innocent eyes! Maybe they have nasty creatures or zombies like these from Resident Evil! Wooo.." he said in a deep voice pretending to be a zombie horribly. "I don't want to meet a Hunter or Tyrant.. or even Nemesis if I were you. Do you know what would be even scarier? If you encounter Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2 in a place like this... Or.." The otaku entered his rave mode, blabbering about annoying geek concerns. To be dead honest, the older man cared shit what his friend had to tell. But the sound of a living human at least kept him feel alive.

"Hey Dr. Emmerich, you know, you are a scientist too.."

"Yeah, and a pretty mad one too, don't you agree Snake?" the scientist laughed joyfully. "Just joking... I know, Snake, I shouldn't make any silly jokes at a time like this. Hey, but this place also brings up memories of my good old days in college. My professor always used to tell me this, back the days when I was young: 'Have your mother never ever told you before that watching a monitor in a dark room is bad for your eyes, Dr. Emmerich?'" The scientist elaborated Snake in a stern voice impersonating his former mentor. His friend was attempting his best to keep the mood upbeat, to break the quietness. Whether it was a good idea, the ex-mercenary doubted. Time to get serious. He ignored the excitement and listened to any absent clue. His primary concern is to find the exit and avoid trouble by making his escape in a sneaky manner. A beacon of hope shone before his eyes when the Solid Eye detected something resembling an opening. A white outline from a circle was enshrouded amid the green from the Night Vision, at the very far end of the hall. This meant that the 'circle' emitted some radiation of heat, a different temperature beyond the wall, which made it likely that he already traced down the exit.

Solid Snake stopped crawling for a moment, so that the Octocamo blended to its background colour for the perfect camouflage. Finally he stood up. Suddenly the man smelled a rat, it must be a trap. Leaving an escape route openly unguarded for the enemy, how dumb can you be? The former secret agent scanned the area hastily with even more vigilance. Apart from the 'white ring' on the very end, the Solid Eye did not detect any other hints that suggest any distinctive temperatures or dangers. The aura sensory also hadn't reacted yet to any hostile entities. Even so, the old snake did not trust the technology. He felt being watched. His primal instincts foretold him of a lurking hazard. Every step closer to the exit, the stronger his tension became.

When he got beneath the platform, he got a better view of the circular gate. However there was something disturbing that usurped his full attention immediately. A strangely shaped object was blocking the escape. He quickly slid himself behind a test tube. The Solid Eye had no data at all which recognised that _thing_. In front of the sluice valve, it sat, patiently waiting for his arrival. It made no sound, nor did it move. A mechanical creature resembling partly humanoid and partly anthropoid, sat in a stooped position with its head burrowed behind the knees. It had no heat radiation element, which almost fooled the Solid Eye from its presence.

"Otacon, what's that?" Snake calmly asked with a fearless face seen from many veteran soldiers.

"I don't know, I have never seen this design of a Metal Gear before. Sunny had installed any possible relevant data on the Solid Eye. I'm afraid that this is even beyond her knowledge. I don't trust this.. Proceed with caution Snake.." from his friend's voice he could determine that he was dead nervous. In fact the older man held an even greater fright, hidden deep within his cold heart.

"You think it's out of its function.. or defect?" he monotonously questioned.

"..." no answer came from the Codec.

He withdrew his Solar Gun from his belt and aimed at the robot sentinel. The finger touched the smooth trigger and added the necessary extra pressure. Without removing his finger away from the trigger the weapon did not release its power. The flickering light from the gun, illuminated the darkness for short disjointed intervals. The strobe was enough to gain a clearer view of the steel creature. Each nanosecond when the light was as it brightest, he saw the leaden armour remaining motionless in the same position, providing him hope. Each nanosecond when the light dimmed, uncertainty returned again. For no brief moment, Solid Snake had felt safe. Shooting with a blinding flash powered from solar energy is not sufficient to kill.

He did not know what senses he could trust. The play of light made the creature appear twitching. Yet at the same time, it showed no sign of real response or movement. Irregular noise intertwined in his auricles, however it was nothing more than the sound of his own erratic panting. Deceived by his own senses, his confusion thrived like boiling magma. No nanomachine was able to compress the inner madness erupting from the crumble volcanic flesh. Unable to determine what was hallucination and was reality, he groaned savagely. From the corner of his eye, he recalled to see the creature changing its position. Cacophony of metal clunks and cracking marked its abrupt awakening. Slowly, it showed its head. Then it sprawled its arms, whereas the right one was bulkier. The metal sentry stood up from the ground. His hands were shaking. Numb by fear, he could not manage to release the trigger. Not even releasing it on a thing that could not feel. The robot seemed to be staring directly at Snake, despite the camo he wore.

"SNAKE...!" This voice! Liquid Ocelot was behind him! Snake heard his voice and turned around. A powerful blow from nowhere crushed on his backbone violently, which sent him flying. He hit the hard floor with a painful crash. The longer he stayed lying, the louder the heavy footsteps became. Its inhuman sadism awakened his realisation of being trapped in a grave crisis. One that distinguished between life and death. Solid Snake has to act now, before it becomes too late...

* * *

**Thanks for reading!** It would be totally awesome if you leave a review. Chapter 2: part 2 arrives very soon. That one will include action, although I suck at it. Please continue, you'll make me more than happy!

I wanted to write a realistic story. With that, I mean a story describing events what could have occurred in the game. So the question is: Does this sound like anything that could have happen to Snake? (Please be honest)

Yup, it is Liquid Ocelot's voice instead of Liquid Snake. That's all I want to point out. Whether there is a difference? I don't know, I think so. Different voice actor, to begin with.


	3. Chapter 2: part 2

_Dear reader,_

First of all before starting this chapter I want to say my special thanks for certain people. **LordLuffy07 of the Merry Go** for giving loads of support. (Also the first person who added me to favourite author :D) Another special thanks go to **DarkPhoenixSaga** for being the first reviewer and **NarutoHasYou** for being the second. Also the person who added this to story alert (I'm really sorry for forgetting your name). Of course I have to thank YOU too reader, for coming this far.

Note that Solid Snake does not have the weapons he often carries with him. Reminder: He got: Rail Gun, Solar Gun, Stun Knife, C4 bombs and Mk. IV. (Otacon controls Mk. IV instead Snake himself) I'm really sorry for the long wait. It took quite a long time to finish. I could picture everything in the head but I suck describing. Ehm... I promised action, however... somehow there's no breathtaking action, because I'm not good in it. Don't flame me for writing this wtf story, I seriously put effort in it. Next time I won't promise anything.

I know this chapter is an utter disappointment and the fanfic got more attention than it deserved. I don't mind if you stop reading it. But I'd love it when you carry on, I hope you enjoy it as well! ^_^

**Disclaimer: "Pika! Pika!" (An angry rodent is complaining about why he is excluded in chapter 2 part 1. To compensate that fact, he demanded to do the disclaimer. Translation: "Hey! I'm not your pet!") Then the author says with a sigh: "I don't own Konami, Nintendo, or even Pikachu. Doesn't matter, I don't even like rats, except as for food." [Just joking, never ate rats before... I believe.]

* * *

**

**- Beauty in the Beast -**

**Chapter 2:**

**(Part 2)**

TUN.. TUN.. TUN..

Shrill noise from metal boots scraped the iron path which led to one thing. The spot where the helpless prey lied on his ventral surface. His mistake was almost fatal, turning his back to the creature defensively.

They said that old snake lost its most deadly venom, his arsenal to kill. Nowadays it was a mere wrinkled dead skin covering a set of weak bones. But this snake was no one other than the legendary Solid Snake, still worthy to be slaughtered. A notion which many predators held. They hungered to meet him, like the zealous followers on holy pilgrimages, and some even desired to retrieve pieces of him, considering these as sacred artefacts.

He could not see where his assaulter was. He kept his ears open to hear the creature approaching from the shrouding darkness. He could not let his guard down once more. The back injury was serious, even though the lethal impact was suppressed by the suit. The snake kept himself on the floor, to buy time recovering his wounds partially with the nanomachine's healing abilities. When time seemed fit, he started rolling away quickly on his side. He kept rolling until he faced an obstacle that blocked his escape. Whether it was a damn test tube or wall he didn't bother, as long as that robot wasn't close. The Codec started ringing. He came up in squatting position on a spot which he thought was safe.

"Drebin here, emergency call. Snake, you encountered a remaining member of the B&B." The gun launderer alerted him matter-of-factly.

"What!? That can't be! Drebin, You said.." the ex-soldier responded dumbfound. The four B&B members were the last. That Drebin bastard said it was all over back then. Snake rolled to a different spot.

"No, there are more. I suppose that this is Still Pillbug... the most heavily armoured Beast from the unit. It doesn't sound that good for you. All you can do is eliminate her, before she eliminates _you_." Drebin added before his voice disappeared.

---

It was the same situation as that time: Hunt down the Beast instead of hunted down by the Beast. The deserted hall became an enclosed battlefield whereas one of the two could remain. Only one could be the surviving predator, however how matters stood, Solid Snake was the weaker prey.

"I know you won't like it, in a time like this. But there's no choice, Snake! I'm afraid you have to stop her.. by any means of force. I have connection with Sunny. I asked her to track down any data about the Beast. She's busy and I watch your back with Mk. IV. Buy some time, but be careful. Don't get too close to her!" Otacon exclaimed while his swift fingers typed the different keys of his laptop restlessly in lightning speed. The scientist was too occupied in searching feedback and wasted no more time chatting.

The situation was irritating the former soldier. The previous Beasts he fought were easier to detect through Solid Eye. The device was sensitive to their strong emotions. _This bitch was too fucking passive for a predator._ She left no trace. The footsteps halted. He hated the long waiting and the tension grew. His impatience almost got him provoking the Beast by yelling taunts or insults, but he was too much of a coward for such risky suicide attempts.

Nervously he watched over a seemingly cylinder. Solar Gun was flung away during the impact from the previous attack. He knew where his weapon was but dared not to pick it up immediately. Slowly the man drew near to his gun to pick it up. He ducked, grabbed it and got in a defensive stance. Nothing happened. She could shoot again, but she did not. He checked his surroundings quickly, still no change of air. _That bug liked playing cat-and-mouse games and sure she'd kept the suspense high by goddamn waiting._ The air stirred, in a distance he heard dreadful metal rumbling. Anxiously he aimed the gun to the still surroundings, without spotting a single target.

Before he had time to react he was already answered by the unseen barrage of shots from the enemy. He tried to dodge the gunfire, but was hit by few.

"Fu-.. Ough!.. Ugh! Agh!" he spat.

One hit him on his thighs and others perforated his shoulders. The wounds were painful but not serious enough to disable his limbs. Ignoring his pain, he ran as fast as he could. His top priority is the avoidance of being a shooting target or sitting duck.

---

Solid Snake thought of one thing, when Drebin said she was heavily armoured. The only anti-tank weapon he had was the Rail Gun. Running through the shadows he manoeuvred with zigzag patterns to the electric gun. He had no time to look back, although he knew he was followed by a camouflaged foe. Twisting mechanic joints squealed closely behind him.

He found himself under the bridge platform. Snake heard a loud thud high above him. When the man paused, the woman followed suit, which resulted back into eerie silence. He turned his head up and watched its underside. If she's above, then she could not attack him from there, he convinced himself. He waited again, waiting for the right moment to dash away. To Snake's terror a wave of ominous beams rained down through the platform. Fortunately for him, his reflex was fast enough to respond. He made himself small, so that a minute proportion of the beam managed to hit its prey.

"Aagh!"

Snake was shot at various places of his legs. Yet he dashed as a madman towards his weapon, as if the old spirit could not feel the burning agony. It was the notorious facade he held for more than twenty years. However, any soldier, no matter how great or legendary, felt pain.

He turned his head to the platform and saw a vague figure standing upright. He swiftly kicked the Rail Gun away from the pathway, which glided smoothly to a corner behind a test tube. Suddenly, within a second, the deluge of ballistic purple lasers was fired from above and he barely leaped away. The man skilfully evaded her ranged blasts with a duck roll. Immediately he grabbed the gigantic Rail Gun which demanded to be handled by both arms. When he inspected the bridge once again by sticking out his head, the Pillbug was gone.

"How can she find me!? I'm wearing both Octocamo and Stealthsuit simultaneously." Snake questioned through his Codec.

"No way! This.. this means the Beast has other detection sensors. Stealthsuit only fools light .. and.. and Octocamo works only with infrared. This is no good.. may-.. maybe.. she got X-Ray vision." Otacon stuttered.

"You mean hiding here won't work!?"

"Uh.. but better be safe than sorry, Snake!" the scientist added before the soldier switched the channel of the Codec.

"Rose, what's my stress level!?" Snake demanded.

"Horrible Snake..." when hearing her words, the ex-mercenary decided not to listen to any advice. The female counsellor kept speaking in hope that the man headed her wise advice. Having the occupation of a mental soother she knew exactly that she should remain her tone most calm and comforting as possible as she didn't want to bring more stress the soldier already had. However Rose could not drop the concern for a slight. Nervously her perfectly manicured hands rapped on her mahogany desk. Even though how hard she tried to imagine the role of a suffering person, she never experienced the taste of hell which Snake underwent.

"You should find a safer place to regain your psyche. This way you cannot even hold your gun straight. You really have to stay focused on the change of sounds. You should not underestimate her! This Beast does not have a certain emotion unlike the previous B&B. Lack of emotion on the battlefield often results in better control of the situation... Snake, she won't have mercy with you. The Beast does not feel anything when she fights you, making her a dangerous insensitive psychopath who is not even aware of her own actions!" the female counsellor spoke with great concern, which she soon realised as futile attempts.

"Snake... He's not listening, I hope he's alright." She turned her head to a certain young man already clad in a pale grey bodysuit. Raiden stood there with his back facing his wife. His fingers slowly moved over the edge of his katana, never expecting that he had to use his blade again. Satisfied he determinately slid the weapon back in its holster on his side.

"Jack.. You don't even know where he is! And what if something happens to you?"

"Solid Snake..." the white-haired ninja cyborg hissed. Raiden turned his face towards Rose, his pale cerulean eyes disappearing with sorrow behind the obsidian visor of his helmet. Unable to aid Solid Snake, when his location was unreachable, he had no other choice than wait for the outcome.

--- --- ---

The Snake retrieved his Rail Gun, however his assaulter was nowhere to be found. He had no time to rest. Still Pillbug was invisible in the shadows, even for his advanced Night Vision equipment. Unfortunately, the only clues of her whereabouts was shed when she start gunfire. The source of the murderous rays was his target. He felt his body scourging from scalds. Snake brushed his sore limbs and grunted when he touched warm flowing blood. Damn that woman, he forgot that he took more blows than his old body allowed. Mk. IV shook his robotic head with a sign of apologise. No bandages or rations, it meant. Taking more risks and reckless handling was a death trap. He must find a safe way to track her down.

His arms were the least injured and strong enough to carry the powerful Rail Gun firmly with full determination. By pushing the trigger, it charged up slowly. Minuscule electrons revolved furiously around the tip of the gun, casting golden dancing bolts. He hoped to attract that bug with rattling noise from the high voltage weapon. Right after twenty seconds it was ready to unleash the electric beam. _But the bug did not show its ugly face and get its annoying little legs blown off. _That left to one option.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the pathway between the test tubes. Not without indiscriminate fear, leaving the safe wall's protection into the bay of hazard. At the far end, in opposite direction, he instantly spotted a bright glowing orb of light. _Gotcha_, without hesitating he released the electric beam forth. Icy eyes followed the trail of the blitz he fired, zapping to its target smoothly. _What the...!?_

It was interrupted midway when it collided to a similar beam head-on from the opposite direction. The enormous impact led to a radiant supernova that destroyed anything that stood in its path. Immediately blinded by the great flare he clenched his eyes tight. Not able to see where he was going, he sidestepped with inner intuition. He followed sounds to get to safer place, which was unthinkable amid the enclosed battlefield. Test tubes closest in the vicinity of the explosion burst into million shards. Other surrounding glasswork, being ravaged by the snowball effect, shattered apart, with very little spared.

---

When his optical sensory came back to awareness, he found himself inside a dimly illuminated hall. Not a real tunnel, more of the steel interior of a high-tech futuristic ship. The light did not vanish to his surprise. Hope returned. The hall stayed dimly lit which was to his advantage. She might track him down with X-Ray Vision, however he could track her down as well with the presence of light. Snake noticed that the lamps inside the remaining test tubes served as a weak light beacons. Better than complete darkness. The impact of the explosion must be powerful enough to trigger the lighting system. How the system worked was not his concern. At the far end, he could see the exit, a strange-looking circular door. Snake had one desire, to hunt the Beast right now, so he could flee.

With flawless concentration, the viper ogled hungrily at his newfound prey. Feral blue eyes followed the robotic motions of the female within the grey Beast Suit. The Pillbug detected the bloodlust from the lurking predator. She shrunk herself in the shape of a tiny ball and rolled away instantly like a SCARAB. Tzz, Tzz, Tzz, the high voltage chugged through the sparking weapon. He prepared the Rail Gun once again.

A flash of movement was perceived at the corner of his battle-hardened eye. A swift shadow rolled soundlessly behind the thick survived glass. Through the transparent blurriness he caught the image of the metallic marble unrolling back into the dark grey humanoid form. The viper stalked her and his deadly ammunition was ready. She, apparently oblivious of the viper, just stood there on her place, exposing a defenceless back. Lightning speed, he adjusted his perfect aim and took one final closer step... BOOM!!

---

Light fainted, it became dark again. Solid Snake flinched restlessly on the ground, Rail Gun metres away. He cringed and screamed, grasping his bleeding feet. Warm crimson blood literally seeped through his bulletproof gloves. The man cursed, thanks to his recklessness he stepped on 'landmines'. Unable to get up, his death place was already marked.

---

"O-..ta-.." with last strength he spoke.

"BEHIND YOU!" Otacon exclaimed through the Codec of Mk. IV.

Snake made a 180 degrees rotation when he stood up and had no other choice but to face his contender. A strong claw shot from the shadows, seizing his head in a choking vicegrip. Brutally he was hoisted, as a powerless puppet with weak dangling legs. The metal arm flung him against a solid object. Cold contact with the tube was felt each time he bashed against it. Cracking came both from the fragile glass and his old bones. He struggled to break free from her clutch, but she had cruel intentions in mind. His body was prevented from collapsing as the creature's death lock hauled him up again. Terrified he peered at the tall robust Pillbug, who raised her arm cannon like a guillotine, reading to drop any second. Then the killing machine was unleashed. She started beating Snake's bones mercilessly with the steel weapon.

"Argh! Arg! Ugh!.. Argh!.. AAAAARGH!" echoed lifelessly through the hall.

Some of the upcoming blows he managed to evade, merely a pathetic quantity of five. Still Pillbug smacked his swollen bruised-covered face with her furious arm cannon. The metal's heat fizzled miserably when touching his facial tissues. Bile and blood was spitted on the floor. Followed next, she plunged a steel knee in his gut. Intestines shot up and several ribs were crushed by the unceasing infernal torment. The snake would be dead if his 'skin' suit had not provided the necessary aegis against her inhuman strength. Solid Snake wanted nothing more than death. To stop the eternal torture.

"Just..k-..kill.. me..!" he desperately begged.

The Beast did not respond. The opaque visor showed nothing but a void. Not a slightest emotion was revealed behind the helmet. While the veteran soldier was terribly afraid. Maybe the worst part was the knowledge of knowing that inside the Power Suit was a human being.

The next instant she stopped beating him up, but never allowed him an escape from her grasp. Perhaps she was not the ruthless monster they claimed her to be. Maybe Still Pillbug decided to show mercy? Unfortunately, only in his wishful dreams. This time the steel talons clutched his neck instead, squeezing his respiratory duct. Tightly, she pressed the barrel end against his skull. Solid Snake felt the smouldering metal heating up his forehead, which was covered by meandering streams of body sweat. Forcing his pupils to stare up, he witnessed the arm cannon glowing in eerie vermillion. Icicle hook-shaped fingers pierced little holes in his neck. The only way to escape, was freeing himself from her solid talons. _Chance of success... nil... _

--- --- ---

The Pillbug had no patience anymore, she released the corrosive beam. Hot plasma instantly dissolved the surfaces it touched. The test tube, which stood behind Solid Snake a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen. The glasswork melted in an amorphous matter of transparent blob. The beam quickly dispersed away when it came in contact with the fire-proof wall of the ship. Solid Snake was gone. No trace of him, all of him gone during the sublimation. With some luck, matter from him remained in the amalgam found on the floor, fused with other particles.

(Gas, solid, liquid, and some say that plasma is a phase too. So now you've got Gas Snake / Plasma Snake, depends on what actually happened to him...)

She stared at her bloodstained robotic fingers, his blood barely visible on her darkened glove. The Beast had cleansed her territory of the snake, without having him to spoil more blood or allowing him for a dying scream. He died in peace and tranquillity. Unlike Laughing Octopus, she did not smile or felt wicked outburst of euphoria from the victory. Unlike Crying Wolf, she did not feel sadness or regret from taking lives. Still Pillbug just watched silently at the damage she induced. No surprise she felt, the woman saw death countless times before. Solid Snake died just the same way like all her other victims. The beast had no destination anymore. Might as well be time to feed that genetically modified laboratory rat, which she left outside the ship a while ago. Instead of landing down the spaceship immediately, the onyx robot stood there at her place.

---

What the woman did not realise was that her prey slipped away just in time. From a distance the man lying on his belly, while mortally wounded, analysed her actions watchfully. Fortunately for him, his only injuries were bruises and shots throughout his whole body. His neck received slash marks, which missed vital arteries. _Anything was better than receiving a fully charged headshot._ Witnessing the damage afterwards, the chances to survive the latter was absolutely zero. Solid Snake waited for his wounds to regenerate and vigilantly observed the robot in case she launches another strike.

"Otacon, what takes her so long! Is she finished yet!?" the snake hissed, barely any voice escaping his mouth.

"Sunny? .. Not yet Snake!" the scientist quickly responded.

---

Sunny, surrounded by the monotone hymns of the super computers in her room, fixated her eyes firmly to the monitors. The vast amount of white zeros and ones swimming in the ocean of black, gleamed on her pale face. Nothing could break the concentration of the child. With one 'Enter key' press on the board, it would be activated. The girl hesitated, her tiny index finger shaking nervously. Uncle Hal told her that Uncle Snake was dying, he depended on her aid. She was the _only one_ who could rescue him, while the others could only pray for Snake's return. One click could make a difference between life and death. She worried about whether she changed it right. _Un-.. Uncle Snake, p-.. please hang on.. _At the end, she pushed the button. Now, it was a matter of wait, whether it actually worked. The Caucasian pushed away a platinum blonde strand of hair that on her face. Sunny shut her eyes and placed both her palms tightly together with the fingers crossed. Then she started to make tiny rotating gestures with her thumbs, circling over each other, with the right direction, away from her. Uncle Hal told her that it brings luck, when she could not fall asleep from the thundering rainstorms, Sunny repeated the finger motion. _Please let the sun shine... _she prayed.

--- --- ---

Time passed. The ex-spy could assume that the woman would not attack him as the obsidian Beast stationed on the same place for minutes long. In the meantime his major injuries disappeared, thanks to the nanomachines in his Muscle Suit. Albeit not fully recovered he still had to be watchful. He could find no explanation why the woman would stand on a same place gazing at a wall. None of the normal soldiers would have done anything like that. _Mentally defected, like that Drebin mentioned._ After a while she sat down on the floor, almost 'totally' forgotten that Snake had ever entered her habitat.

Solid Snake kept on creeping towards the exit. Rail Gun was left behind because it was too heavy to be carried. His only arsenals were the harmless Solar Gun and Stun Knife in their holsters (both good for stunning/paralysing). Pieces of unavoidable shattered glass rustled under his belly, casting cracking sounds. _Apparently not loud enough to attract that Beast._ He passed behind the Pillbug who sat small in a stooped position, the way he detected her first time. She stayed unmoved and the man approached closer to the circular door. Snake reached the end and stood up carefully, trying to make the least of sounds. With Still Pillbug at the same place when he checked the woman, this time he could make his escape. The mercenary quickly touched the iron surface of the diaphragm, searching in an exploring way. There was no visible crank or any computerised ID detector that might trigger the opening. The old spy infiltrated many secret enemy bases and yet he had no idea how to break through unnoticed.

"Snake! I've got a message from Sunny! She told me this: Female pillbugs carry their eggs under their belly. When the Beast rolls up... called Morph Ball... she can lay bombs. Pillbug shoots different kind of missiles. She also can shoot this thing called Grapple Beam that acts like a hookshot. Snake? You follow?" Otacon hastily spoke through Mk. IV.

"Shut up. Not so loud. She wakes up." Snake whispered back with hints of frustration.

"C4... You remember you brought some with you... uh.. I'll give you an update when I find more." The scientist responded in whispering tone, this time. The legendary mercenary did not want to reply on the Otaku's remark. In fact, he somehow forgot that he had C4s with him to his own embarrassment. Must be due to the dementia from his rapid aging. There were only three bombs in his front pockets (imagine them to be smaller than the current ones, so they can fit) and Snake retrieved the detonator without effort as he always kept it in the same pocket as his cigarette lighter. _Risky thing: blowing up the door, too much noise and perhaps not enough explosives. Can't waste them._ Before he had time to place the bombs properly, the din of living metal sounded at the back. The female Pillbug was standing on her feet again, with cannon ready.

_Act before thinking!_ He dropped himself flat on the surface, dodging the shots that flew right above him. Then he barrelrolled towards a remaining glass tube that survived the explosion. Beams shot next to his body, missing Snake for a few millimetres. He took out his Solar Gun and got himself in a standing position. The Beast made her move by launching a swift missile at Snake's torso, towards his heart to be exact. The soldier foresaw the zooming rocket and sidestepped the missile. It missed, hit the corner, leading to a strong tremor and a loud explosion. Solid Snake who stood too close to the blast caught flames with his suit. _Damn! Can't get myself cornered... I'm near the exit._ _What if...!? _He got a brilliant plan.

The mercenary raced away from the corner. While he dashed, he saw the Beast's cannon following his trail of movement, focusing at her prey. When Snake reached in front of the diaphragm he suddenly paused. Still Pillbug, adjusted her weapon by pressing buttons. The man trembled on his feet, no place for the tiniest error.

He bit his lip and stared at the grim shadowy creature, opposite from him. The spy could not read her next attack and hopefully she couldn't read his plan either. The second missile was fired, and this time, he gathered enough momentum to jump away completely. Snake made a roll before he landed on both arms and feet in a frog stance. The missile had hit a different type of surface, judging by the sound. A grin appeared on his face for the first time in the battle. His plan was to direct the missile at the diaphragm door and it seemingly worked. The man turned his head to the exit, and the brief smile was replaced with a hoarse growl. The circular door, unaffected by the missile, stayed firmly shut. Instead, the metal footsteps from the dark beast grew louder to his horror. Clumsily, he held the Solar Gun, the only weapon he could think to fetch. Not that the gun could cause any damage. Despite all, Solid Snake managed to put a half smirk. _I'm fucking screwed..._

---

Sunny slammed the keyboard on her table with a thud. Never ever was the little girl so angry before. Computers, mathematics, programming, hacking, it was all child play for the wonder child. Yet she unmanaged to punch one eeniemeenie hole in the system of Still Pillbug. The Power Suit was encrypted in an unknown alien language code. She never felt so stupid before. Why could she not solve the stupid puzzle!? Sunny ducked her head on her lap and started to cry tears. _Uncle Snake, I'm so sorry. I baked it... wrong again_...

--- --- ---

Only thing what he saw was the approaching Pillbug. The steel Beast trod with very slow steps, apparently taking her time. Nobody could tell what she was thinking or what she felt. There was no place to hide. There was no place to run away. Each time when Snake made a gesture she answered with merciless shots. Driven in the corner, the mercenary had to respond quickly.

He pressed the trigger of the Solar Gun, which caused a disturbing flickering light. The most ridiculous thing he could do, however the dark grey Beast halted when he did. Solid Snake had no idea what he was doing but it seemed to work. As long as he kept his index finger on the trigger and pointed the gun at the Pillbug, she paralysed in her movement. The man took one step forward with great care. Not so much because his gun was any match with her arm cannon, it was because Snake had discovered her possible weakness.

He put all his effort to hold the gun straight. Due to his damn nerves, his tremulous hands were shaking madly. The little trick did its wonder when he managed to concentrate the light on her helmet. Still Pillbug backed off when the solar light stung her eyes. She immediately rolled up in a tiny ball and fled away, leaving bombs in her track. The legendary spy did not fall for the trap of explosives once again. He waited for them to detonate automatically, one by one. The pillbug beast stayed in her Morph Ball behind a test tube where she could take cover. This left the golden opportunity for Snake, but to prevent any more surprises he asked advice from his friend. Otacon was abnormally quiet, while usually he keeps bombing with tips how to defeat the enemy.

"Otacon, tell me more about her!" Snake rapidly spoke.

"Huh? Ah, uh..." a short pause, "She jumps in somersaults. The Beast surrounds herself with an electric barrier called 'Screw Attack'! Snake, watch out for her beams!"

"Otacon... tell about the beams."

"But... there are a lot of them! Charge Beam, as the name implies, she charges the shot. Wide and Long Beam have effects of the beams size and length. Spazer Beam separates the blast in separated shots. Wave goes through matter, Ice freezes enemies, Plasma is very hot... Apparently, there's Dark, Light and Nova too, but Sunny couldn't find any data about it." Otacon had no more to say, as he had the minimum of information about the B&B member whom Snake is facing.

---

The metal Pillbug was ironically pretty much defenceless in her ball form. Given the fact that a knife doesn't slice through metal that easily, he kept it in its holster. Her armour was thick and sturdy, after all. _C4s... _those bombs had a long history for Snake. The soldier fought tanks, helicopters, Metal Gears and they proved to be very useful in those situations. However the modified C4s he carried were weaker than in former days due to sacrificing the strength for the compact size. _Nevertheless a C4 is a C4... still dangerous shit._

The robotic Beast unfolded back in her normal shape when she heard the crawling serpent. Solid Snake had sneaked behind the woman already and fumbled with a C4 bomb. Pillbug was agile for a robot. She pulled a roundhouse, which he evaded. Quickly thereafter, she fired beams from the cannon, which none succeeded to strike. The soldier managed to stay behind her back, which is the safest spot. Only if he could get a few metres closer he could also attach the bomb on her backside. If he got too close, she would switch to melee combat rather than ranged attacks. _And the beast was damn fast too..._ But he knew her weakness already. The man switched to the Solar Gun and drew near. He immediately fired the solar beam when she turned around 180 degrees. POOF. Still Pillbug covered her visor with the arm cannon, yet she flinched from the blinding light. To buy more time, he immediately fired rapid blasts of white solar light, which petrified the metal suit.

The man pulled out one of his notorious C4 from his pocket. Then something unthinkable began to happen. Cracking noise came from the pillbug. The ashen grey war paint started to crumble and fall of like dust. Under the dark shell she shed remained another thick steel skin. Still Pillbug ditched the sable camouflage for a garish exoskeleton. The helmet gained the hue of crimson red and its visor opaque emerald green. Thin radiating stripes of neon mint ran through certain parts of the armour. Her round shoulder pads, cuirass and space boots became metallic orange. While the remaining segments turned light bronze, apart from the gleaming silver arm cannon. Bugs in bright tropical hue were omen for predators. It was the sign for toxicity and hazard according common sense. For Snake, the shiny orange pillbug was no exception. Before he had enough time to implant a C4 properly, the Beast awakened from petrifaction and lunged at the soldier with inhuman velocity.

--- --- ---

Failed to block, she smacked him down with the cannon. Then she kicked the old man in the stomach, followed by a boot on his skull. Pillbug prepared another stomp, wherefrom the snake rolled away. The man got up and threw an uppercut at the robot suit's head. Futile attack as she barely received damage while he felt pain in his own knuckles. The beast gave him a knee, which he blocked. This let an opening for Snake to grab the leg to trip her from balance. He clutched the leg, but the metal beast was too heavy to be overthrown. She aimed the cannon at Solid Snake, who in turn released her to evade the purple beam. Pillbug was too fast and he needed to slow her down.

He retrieved the Solar Gun from holster, instantly charged it and shot a light beam. Still Pillbug jumped very high in the air, and surrounded herself with a deadly electric barrier. Electrocuted by the charge was instant death, so he determined where she would land and avoided being inside her vicinity. After several spins, the orange creature landed silently on both arm and feet. Snake received no direct hit from Screw Attack, the remaining electric field however, was advantageous for the steel pillbug. The grip from his fingers dispersed, his weapon slipped away. His whole body felt numb from the tingling shocks and he sank down. The woman dashed towards the collapsing male body and sent it against the wall with a powerful side kick. She charged her cannon as a finisher. Snake who was paralysed still saw the steel barrel end glowing yellow, while his limbs couldn't act. As she released the beam, she suddenly switched a target behind her. _Otacon!_

The _'_SHOCKAXIS_'_ controller - with a visible layer of dead tissue cells of fingertips - vibrated strongly in his sticky palms during the impact. (It's the controller used to control the robot and it looks like those for PS3) Mk. IV was slightly grazed by the passing Charge Beam, but the damage was minimal. The scientist swept the ocean of sweat from his forehead. He swiftly adjusted his glasses, which nearly fell off from his nose. _Thank God, Snake's alive!_ The tiny robot spun countless circles on its roller-skating legs to attract the bug's attention. The Beast saw that her shot missed but ignored Metal Gear Mark IV for the time being. Her prey was Solid Snake, and guess what... according her radar the snake had moved four metres to the east.

Otacon had saved his life, however that didn't mean that he had shaken off that Beast. He duckrolled behind the test tube – only four remained, one in each corner of the ship – to avoid incoming shots. Rail Gun was fairly close, although he had no plans of using the weapon at this moment. Still Pillbug jumped atop the bridge platform, which was too high for Snake to reach. Therefore she was the only who could deal damage (unless he threw C4 / stun knife, which aren't used that way normally).

"SNAKE! Grab it!" Otacon yelled. Mk. IV. picked up the Solar Gun from the ground and flung it to the mercenary with its cable-like arm. Snake caught the pistol, just what he needed. He focused the sunlight on the bright vermillion helmet. The Beast fired a Wave Beam faster than him, which went through the test tube. Solid Snake expected her assault and evaded skilfully. He also discovered the pattern that she could not fire another beam for few seconds time after each shot. He took the opening and fired his blast of solar light, which travelled undisrupted to his target. Still Pillbug, injured by sunlight for a peculiar reason, lost balance and fell backwards. The metallic suit tumbled down the platform with a hard impact that caused the floor to shake. She grounded ugly, the orange Beast did not stand up.

--- --- ---

It was payback time whereupon the Beast became the hunted herself. Snake charged up his Rail Gun he retrieved and approached the Beast instinctively with steady steps. He carried the twenty kilogram weight manslaughter to test its force on his prey. Twittering sparkles jumped hectically from the metal, anxiously to be released. Hungrily the Rail Gun devoured more electricity to reach the maximum capacity.

The Pillbug, still unaware of the drawing sound of thunder belonging from the merciless rattlesnake, squirmed wildly to crawl away. The man decided to finish it quickly and pinned her on the floor. He putted his deadly aim at the helmet for a dire headshot, powerful enough to blow head and brains into bits. Before she had time to process the data of the situation, he released the energy from the fully charged weapon, inches separated from the visor. It went with a macabre bang. Snake was pushed back from the recoil of the powerful electric blast.

He checked the Beast and the damage was _merely_ some cracks in the helmet and visor. Rail Gun was not enough to destroy the suit. The soldier took out a C4 and searched for a suitable segment to plant it. The already half-damaged helmet was round and the bomb did not attach well. Pillbug demurred and squirmed by kicking and hitting against the man. Therefore he placed it on a segment he thought it was the second most fragile: her belly. The bomb would go off automatically by her ferocious body movements, so he fled from the woman instantly. When finally the Beast managed to get on her feet, it was triggered.

BOOM! Smoke filled the hall with the reek of burnt machinery. Snake couldn't see in the thick fog with his normal eye, but with the Solid Eye Nightvision mode he traced the Pillbug in the smoke. The arm cannon was rendered dark green, which meant that its temperature had dropped freezing cold. The Beast showed herself from the void with the barrel icy white. She unleashed a pale frozen ray which pierced through the hall. The spear-like icicle point of the Ice Beam sliced his upper arm through the Muscle Suit. ARGH!! The 'cold-blooded' Snake yelped when the biting coldness froze his seeping red fluid. With his free hand he hastily wept off chunks of solidified droplets around the wound which were formed due the sudden cold temperature. With one 'immobilized' arm, he had to continue the struggle.

---

The woman checked her suit's condition. The power of the previous Ice Beam was far too weak. The damage caused by the C4 deteriorated her performance far worse than she calculated. Energy was cut in half, accuracy, speed, firepower, defence, were depleted for at least 40%. Phazer Beam: ID-Locked, Plasma Beam: ID-Locked, ...: ID-Locked... Even most of the power-up abilities ceased to function for safety measurements. Otherwise the nanomachines which couldn't handle anymore enter the state of overheating, resulting in immediate shutdown. But with access to Morph Ball (+ bombs), Power Beam, Grapple Beam, and Screw Attack, the Beast was not completely nerfed yet.

In the meantime, Snake's left arm was defrosted. He could use that arm, but not without feeling any pain. Still Pillbug had littered many bombs on the floor to keep the man away. Then she leapt above the platform and tried to seek the mercenary. Solid Snake figured out that she wanted to shoot him from above. He got his Solar Gun ready and aimed at the robotic Beast when he stepped away from the test tube. She backflipped upon seeing his pistol, landing behind the bed of bombs after performing summersaults. He fired a sunray at her head, which she deflected with the arm cannon. Pillbug countered with a Grapple Beam which successfully attached against his body. He pulled and jerked, however the sticky string didn't let loose. She tugged him violently across the field of inactivated bombs. In turn they exploded underneath the Muscle Suit. When he at last reached the wretched woman, she released the Grapple Beam and sent his body flying like a lifeless doll with a low kick.

---

What remained of Solid Snake was a bloodied battered body of an old soldier. His suit fulfilled its loyal service and began to fall off slowly, partly revealing colourless flesh with open scars and purple bruises. With several lower ribs crushed, he forced himself to stand up. He coughed up blood and wept his mouth clean. With bloodlust in his cold blue eyes, he stared at the Pillbug. The mercenary was up to revenge.

The Beast rushed at the man who managed to stand straight. She launched the arm cannon forth for a strike. Snake evaded it on time. Still Pillbug grabbed the man and chucked him metres away. He fell flat on the floor and instantly rolled away on his side, escaping the barrage of lasers. She leaped atop the platform again, where she could shoot the man far easier. The spy kept rolling and dodging till he reached the place where the Rail Gun was stationed. While still lying on his back, he jerked the heavy weapon closer towards him, but didn't pick it up. A golden aura of electricity surrounded the orange robot, followed thereafter she descended down.

The Screw Attack was less devastating than the first one, but he couldn't afford to get hit. He didn't have enough time to stand up and run away. He would get the full blow. Last secondly, he got up in kneeling position with one knee on the floor and lifted his Rail Gun up high like a horizontal bar with both arms. Snake protected himself from the high voltage by using the gun's electricity isolating material. The weapon was blocking most of the pressure from her twisting assault, but it couldn't hold for any longer. A line started to appear, and in the next instant, the Rail Gun snapped in two from the middle. Still Pillbug shattered through his defence and she went right through the weapon. He duckrolled in time to avoid the crushing weight of steel.

The Beast was down and this was Snake's chance. He jumped on top of the robot and held her in CQC submission. Of course the Beast was stronger with her metal joints, but little she could do when she was forced in tight position. The man took the second C4 he had and attached it on the back of her armour. He took off and pressed the detonator.

--- --- ---

Bits of metal shells flew from different directions. The smoke from the explosion disappeared. To Snake's frustration, the Pillbug stood up. The Power Suit had lost its shine, dull in colour and covered with countless fissures. It was a miracle for the Beast to survive two C4s and a close-up shot from the Rail Gun. Nevertheless she was not dead yet. The woman checked her Beast Suit's conditions once again. Only 20% of her total energy capacity was left. Her battle performance was depleted by more than 70% and none of the power-up software was runable. Even the most basic ability of all: jumping ceased to function.

---

The wounds on Solid Snake's body began to bleed heavier. He was risking blood loss if he kept on going like that. He wobbled on his feet and started to feel dizzy. The Beast suffered less from such effects. She walked over to the man and swung the arm cannon. He saw the attack coming and stepped away. The viper sneaked behind the woman who did not turn around.

This was the last C4 he had, he must make it a nice blow. Now or never. He tackled down the heavy suit with the greatest force he had. She responded very slow and the final bomb was placed. The bomb that should skin the disgusting bug was detonated by one determent press on the igniter. He felt no regret and pressed. The explosion was powerful and left an ear-deafening boom. Orange shells and steel particles flew at different directions. He held hands closely against his face, covering it from the flying shards. Splinters slashed through tissues which weren't protected. When the splinter shower stopped he removed his hands and gained view. _Was it enough to exterminate that pest?_

Another thick dark mist hung where the explosion took place. There was no wind inside but the cloud dispersed very quickly in the next instant. The grim silhouette stood at it place inside the void. Snake saw the robotsuit raising her right arm, preparing the cannon persistently. He sidestepped and revolved behind her.

Due to the smoke and malfunctioning radar of Still Pillbug, his sneaking went unnoticed. She scanned her vicinity through the green visor. Her prey vanished from her view. Deliberately she held up her arm cannon for an upcoming attack. The female Beast made her way through the mist and focused on her target. It all happened within a split second. The charge landed before she ever saw it coming. The man took his perfect opportunity and released his primal rage upon the woman. With his remaining stamina he smacked her helmet violently from behind with the hind of the broken Rail Gun. Using it as a skull-cleaver he clubbed her till she dropped down. _That fucking arthropod was damn persistent, showing no sign of surrender. _At the same time, she was too weak for retaliation and allowed his frenzy outburst. He had no choice, he clobbered her head non-stop until finally she had fallen.

---

For a brief moment, Solid Snake recalled what kind of gruesome Beast he actually was. Not much better than that psychopath woman. But it was for survival, if it wasn't him, she would be the cold beast. Mk. IV was speechless. Otacon and Snake's other friends were watching along and none of them had words for the entire battle. Or maybe they never expected the comeback of the old man. What Snake saw next was the robot suit lying motionless on the floor.

---

But Still Pillbug was still alive. She tried to balance on her feet clumsily but at each attempt she stumbled back on the floor. The Beast landed on her back and struggled to get back on a proper stance. Her movement became sluggish and he knew that she had no chance escaping from him. With the belly side exposed to the predator, it became a defenceless prey. With the roles switched, the old snake deceived fate, once again.

Solid Snake threw the remains of the Rail Gun to the side and switched to his Stun Knife. He toggled it to the non-lethal paralyser function. With the Solar Gun in one hand and the knife in the other, he sneaked towards her slowly but kept himself in safe distance. The steel body was still on the ground, now without movement. The engine knelled melancholic. Soon after when all sounds died, her nanomachines stopped functioning.

Still Pillbug, member of the once most feared female elite corps, was dead. You would expect.. Solid Snake knew it better. They all just pretended dead until they reveal their genuine faces. The mercenary watched the motionless robotic anatomy carefully, prepared for any surprise attacks.

The joints started to dissect. Morbid sounds of the shucking skeleton filled the silent air. The Beast Suit expanded in volume, thick crimson liquid oozed from the open vents between the joints. It wasn't blood, not the same rusty nauseating miasma he was so familiar to. The suit was falling apart, cracks widened on the heavy armour. Piece by piece, the segments fell off. The big pauldrons were first to be released, followed by rustling boots and arm protection skidding off. Even the raging arm cannon had given up, rendering her to be completely unarmed. The woman wiggled restlessly on the floor, trying to unshed herself from the cold second skin. She was gasping for air. The helmet and cuirass entangled her upper part, preventing her from any respiring activity.

---

A part of him wanted to free her from the prison of constricting metal. Another part of him told him to stay away from this deceiving woman. _Only damn fools are stupid enough to bring the enemy in an advantage._ With cold blue eyes he focused her squirming body movements. The suit was only half shed and the parts which weren't covered exposed her soft feminine curves. Despite his aversion for carnal contact, his curiosity for her suitless body rose.

_I'm not falling for this damn trap._ If he let her die, victory would be his. Finding a way of exit he could deal later. But what could he loose? He's dying anyway. A satisfied smirk appeared on the wrinkled face. He won the battle for now. He licked his lips with his wet tongue, without a certain reason actually. Perhaps to moisture them from the dryness, but nobody cared the reasons behind things. He had a crazy idea. Maybe she really needed some help.. and the man who dissembled Metal Gears was an ace in his expertise...

* * *

**Thanks for reading! ^_^** Reviews are welcome. I'd like to hear your impressions. I decided that I'll never ever try action because that was the core reason why it took so much time for an update. While it ended without really much action.

Still Pillbug.. cough, cough, quite cheesy name, sorry reader. I suck at naming and tried to add a bit of B&B flavour nomenclature, and somehow failed. :D After two chapters, the name will be explained. Why not use normal names? As far I'm concerned it was never revealed what the actual names of the B&B members are, apart from their codenames.

Please don't shoot me for her silly weakness of hating light. It's the most pathetic thing ever, but she cannot be too overpowered and needed some kind of weakness, otherwise Snake won't survive. Actual pillbugs aren't afraid of light, however since you often find them in dark places, it seems like they're in favour of darkness or they appear nocturnal. While probably it's just they need moisture and under a rock for example it's less dry.

Got nothing against Drebin 893 and he isn't a bad guy. Whatever Snake probably got a bad mood.

Next chapter (if I ever plan to finish this) is totally different than this. To be honest, reading back, I totally dislike this portrayal of Old Snake (violent, emotionless and heartless). Those who hate it as well, don't worry, it will change, according to my pathetic excuse of storyboard.


	4. Chapter 4

Yo reader,

Suddenly I had this idea in my mind and it went a bit like: 'You know, I miss spending my weekends writing fics while I were suppose to do homework at high school. Particularly posting stuff after finishing them gave a good feeling'. That was pretty nostalgic...

As you might have noticed, there is no "Chapter 3", strictly speaking. Well, truth to be told, I lost interest when I came to the point of tackling the battle with the Beauty. I wrote down some notes on the battle choreography (lol, if you insist to call it that way :P) and whatever stuff I could have put in that chapter, think of slight character development, et cetera, however as you could have guessed it still didn't work out. Therefore I just skip it, and to be dead honest, really, it's nothing more spectacular than what you do in the game when beating up the regular Beauties or reducing their psyches, to put it more friendly.

Ahem, so, hereby I present you Chapter 4 which concludes everything. Actually this is not anything I have written recently, let's check the timestamp; Oof, somewhere in July 2009, that is quite some time ago. This chapter follows directly after Chapter 3 where you are supposed to see Old Snake's struggle of reducing down Still Beauty's psyche. Oh, before I forget to say, her 'special' powers is messing up with your mind when you look at her. Your senses will then be shut down, such as hearing nothing, seeing nothing, smelling nothing, yadda, yadda, so all what's left is emptiness. Damn, don't ask me why the hell my ideas are so cheesy back then (and not much better nowadays). :D Okay, after each battle, as tradition goes, you can sit down and relax when Drebin starts to tell you a bedtime sob story about their unfortunate lives.

What you see here is an unaltered version of what I found on my harddisk. Yup, I'm cringing of all the crap and OOC-ness spewed here, but seriously if I took no effort in writing a Chapter 3, it's pretty much predictable that I'm too lazy to rewrite this, no? The only part I left out from my script is an even worse epilogue thingie of Snake and Otacon. Be happy I spared it from your sight, so you don't have to facepalm when reading such utter trash. Nevertheless I hope you enjoy it! :)

**Disclaimer: "Uk, uk, uk!" Hey Little Gray, that wasn't a disclaimer! Okay I admit, I own nothing from Nintendo or Konami except this fanfic.**

* * *

**- Beauty in the Beast -  
**

**Chapter ****4:**

"Very noble of you. Who would have thought?"

"An old mercenary.. almost dying.. coming across a beautiful lady. A young tasty body.. and very willing to do absolutely everything for the old beast. All your sexual desires.. you could release on her. You had a chance to take a bite.. in her forbidden fruit.

"Drebin..."

"Suck all the juices from her soft flesh. Taste her sweet breasts.. with her succulent nipples healthy pink. And ejaculate your milky venom.. from your erected fang.. into her clean-shaven peach. She shed her suit.. and spread her sexy legs.. all just for you, Snake." Drebin said with a smirk.

"She-devils like her would do the same for any men. Trying to seduce and tame men like beast."

"Ya know, you talk 'bout her like she's some dirty slut. Like she's been screwed by the whole fucking PMC. In fact.. she's quite a good girl. She's still virgin, still untouched, perfectly clean. And the truth is.. she was seduced by you.. the Old Snake. You rescued her from her pain, you destroyed the suit, didn't you? It's her way of saying thank you. Allowing the Snake to bite in her fruit.. before she bites into the other forbidden fruit.. and get expelled from Eden."

"If you want her that badly. Why didn't you just fuck her?"

"Aw, I'm not the legendary Snake. You did the right thing, my friend. You showed her that's there still something good in the world.. and that not all men are corrupted. She treasured her body very much, in fact. You'd be lucky number one who could take a good look.. and got a chance to lay. If it was up to me I wouldn't dare to resist my temptation. Still Beauty was a tasty blonde, with a sexy body. Leave it to another beast and he'd definitely eaten her alive. And then she wouldn't be that pure anymore. Even Little Gray agrees, right?"

"Uk. Uk. Uk."

"Hmm? He says, he wants other fruit than.. bananas."

"It's like a can of soda. When you get rid of the crappy aluminium foil, you still have the godly soda. But when the soda has no bubbles left, know what you get? No bubbles. No value. It's not even worth to drink. Or when the soda is drunk by loads of other men.. it gets filled with their saliva and other crap. Disgusting brew of soda, eh? Don't ya think so too, Snake?"

"..."

"Wanna know the sad tale behind? Wanna know what had driven the poor girl nuts?"

"You said that Screaming Mantis was the last one you had."

"I lied. I got many more bedtime stories in store. Just for you.. extra services.. for being a _faithful_ customer. And ya never know, maybe she really was the last BB corps left, so I make it a bit longer this time. Great bargain eh?" Burps

"Heh, like the other beauties, she ain't got a happy life. But, she used to be happy when she still was a cute tiny little girl. She came from a rich family, ya know, bunch of snobs from a peaceful state, free from any warfare. She got all the love, attention, and care.. from mommy and daddy. Pretty sweet, huh? But life ain't always sunshine. On a fateful day, he came. At that time.. the three year-old girl was playing outside with her pet dog, in her parents' garden.. unaware of the approaching danger. Until she looked in the sky, a dark, black cloud loomed above her head. Then he landed down right in front of the little helpless child, that big, hungry, scary, ugly and particularly smelly.. lizard..."

"Let me guess. That lizard never existed. He appeared just all in her head."

"No, you're wrong. He was real. He _is_ real."

"GEKKO."

"Nah. Don't jump on hasty conclusions, old man. Lemme finish the good part.. His golden, slimy eyeballs peered at the girl, with vengeance. Indeed the reptile was hungry, very hungry. But instead.. the beast... devoured the dog. Ripping his prey in separate pieces and swallowing it.. in one bite. Do you know why he didn't eat her instead?"

"Just tell."

"Do you remember the days? When you were a kid too, days when you played on the field?"

"..."

"Never played on the fields before? Not that hard to imagine, with all the war going on. But seriously, did you never go on a bug hunt? Ya missed good times. Catching little squirming bugs and sometimes dissecting their joints. We already killed for joy, back when we were kids. When you squeeze them too hard, yellowish green pus ooze from their bodies. Pretty nasty, to be honest..."

"Now back to the bedtime story. Same way we see bugs, in the eyes of that lizard, he saw her nothing more than vile garbage, a disgusting bug. He picked up her body and.. with his sharp nails.. he sliced her body open, deeply. While she constantly screamed for mommy and daddy... and cried from pain, blood slowly seeped from the open wound. Only this way, that monster had parts of her tissues on his claws, making things much easier to infiltrate ID tagged doors inside the mansion.. where her parents lived. They were his target after all. When he had her DNA, he disposed her fragile body away.. For him, she was just a bug again. The little girl was too afraid.. afraid that the lizard would come back.. afraid that mommy and daddy would abandon her.. afraid that she would die at the very moment. She curled up in a tiny ball, hiding from the light, like a creepy little pill bug. When she stared through the mansion window, she saw her parents hiding inside, completely _safe_. Her anger rose when they had forgotten her. They didn't even hear her cries filled with agony, vice versa she couldn't hear them. When she looked back to the window once again, her hatred rose.. they faced her direction but didn't see her being hurt. She collected her courage and stopped hiding. She stood up and beckoned her mommy and daddy to come. When she did, she gain full view of the window, that was when.. she came eye to eye.. with him again. Mister Reptile first sneaked behind dumbfounded daddy. The little girl screeched, but the only sound that returned.. was empty echoes of her own. Because daddy was already ripped into half, before he ever had time.. to realise. Then of course, was mommy's turn, who was not fast enough to respond. The woman saw her wounded child, not the creature behind.. While she was still chanting silent prayers for her little girl, emotionlessly and cold.. she was slaughtered. Even when she died, she had this frozen stare.. no moment of rest.. looking into her innocent eyes. The child could not bear anymore of this bloody mess and silently hid again, back in the dark, curled up in a ball."

"Drebin, when the hell are you finished!"

"Not anytime soon. Be glad that I'm skipping my tea-time break, 'specially for you, man."

"Ooh? Uk. Uk. Uk."

"Here ya go, Little Gray. And never ever interrupt the bedtime story again, old man. This way I can never finish it, meaning.. you will never sleep anytime soon."

"Argh."

"That reptile was not stupid, he brought a whole army of pirates, to raid the once quiet town brutally. While the whole town running amok, she did not dare to breath or speak. As any sound could reveal her hide. In eternity she struggled.. inside a horrible nightmare.. no one to wake her up. Then they came to rescue her.. from that bloody hell. The town is now silenced for good, as it exists no more. Guess what, her rescuers were beasts themselves, a bunch of birds... from a tribe called Chozo."

"Chozo... What tribe is that?" any new names meant no good. He doubted that Chozo was an actual name of a tribe. Must be some codename for a ... enterprise or organisation.

"Real beasts they were, emotionless vultures, which hunt and kill their prey without remorse. And birds do enjoy eating raw pillbugs alive."

"They ate her."

"Nah, then we wouldn't have our dear Ms. Pillbug. And ya know little kids tend to copy exactly.. what they see and hear. The vultures were from the PMC, they gave her that damn suit. Hiding inside the hard shell of a pillbug, one could hurt her no more. Neither did she care when hurting others. Little girl saw how easy and fast the emotionless reptile man could kill. She mimicked him.. in order to survive, she became the cold killer herself. It did corrupted her.. very much. Come to think about.. the cold killer part. Doesn't this remind you of someone, Snake?"

"You know, pillbugs normally aren't trueborn hunters, they just clean up the mess. They only eat dead plants, and look what war did to us. Thankfully it's over... but the damage and aftermath.."

"You wasted my time with your crap. You expect me to believe this all?" Old Snake scoffed. It was the biggest load of bullshit he ever heard in his life. Big lizard destroying a little girl's life, and then the part with the bunch of birds. And that Drebin 893 just wasted his time in life, which was already almost running out.

"Nah, not necessarily, you don't have to Snake. I want_ you_ to realise something. A wise lesson."

"Still Beauty despised people calling out her name. From what I heard, she becomes totally paranoid when you said it out loud. It reminds her too much of her past. An unhappy past she was struggling to pass behind. She believed she could ignore everything by silencing, since then she never spoke again. She also believed that everything she disliked, they would be gone, by silencing them coldly. And again I have to compliment you. By fighting you, she realised that silencing was never the right solution. Her past is confronted again, and she remembered her human self, back the time as an innocent young girl. You made her memorise that she is more than an empty shell. All the emotions she imprisoned inside.. all the years.. were broken free. Snake, you released her pain, and now she can rest in _real_ silence. She can rest in peace finally, thanks to _you_."

"But why Drebin? Why me? Why are they still hunting me? There's peace! War had ended! PMC is gone.. Don't tell me that everything was for nothing!"

"You know, some people just don't change. And you are a legend. The _living_ legend."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Lemme tell you a legend, or more of a fairytale. Once upon a time.. long, long time ago.."

"Cut this crap."

"So.. you still wanna hear, old man? I have all the time of my life.. I can tell you anytime I want. While in your case I won't say that, not the young Snake, eh? Hmm, excuse me for a sec, need to quench my thirst. Nah, I can wait."

"The legend told that once upon a time an evil serpent threatened our _beautiful_ world. The Beast killed countless of our good men, and his wrongdoings must be stopped. Once justice is brought upon this vile creature, a reward greater than any reward you can imagine will be received. The rumour attracted numerous hunters who sacrificed their lives but none had succeed."

"What's so great about the reward?

"Your head is more than a precious trophy, they say that honour and redemption is granted when someone succeeds to slay you. Of course this is insane for anyone like you or me. No one believes this childish crap from PMC, at least when you are normal. But that's not what you will say bout half of the people on this planet. Even when war is over, not everyone can adapt to the new world. Particularly old mercenaries. And the Beauties were messed up.. even when they don't have missions anymore.. or receive no bounties from killing you.. they had to kill you.. The legend is still alive. These girls don't care bout the money, they believe that you are the evil that needs to be stopped. By stopping this evil, all their sins will be forgiven."

"What is her name anyway?"

"No one really knows. Why the curiosity, Old Snake? First of all, she was never that well-known and she never made any public appearances. More hiding in the shadows type, a bit like you. See those Emotion Magazines you are reading. They've got pictures of Laughing, Raging, Crying, and Screaming Beauty but none of Still Beauty. It's most likely that the PMC only hired Still Pillbug for very special hired hits, _unlucky_ guys like you. That's why only four BB was confirmed. From my guess, she was number zero. Hey, why didn't you just ask her name?"

"It matters nothing. Names are nothing on the battlefield."

"Heh, still got that soldier spirit in ya. I've talked far too much. Need something to cleanse my thirst, man. Ey, lil' Gray, bring me a NARC. By the way, Snake, if you need anything or special services you know where you can go. WII HAVE YOU."

"What?"

Drebin 893's voice died in the Codec.

* * *

**Thanks for reading till the end!** Abrupt ending, but the worst emitted part comes next. Okay, if you really want to know it that badly, I can tell you briefly. Snake buries her corpse in that crop circle and Otacon cries because she reminded her so much of Wolf, plus some sappy dialogues included such as: "I wish there were blue roses growing on the plain!".


End file.
